First Girl?
by Yotsubrain
Summary: What happens if Fuutarou recognized Rena's face? What happens if he thinks that Itsuki was his Rena? The smallest changes can have the biggest effects. Rated T just in case some handholding occurs.
1. The First Meeting

Lunchtime.

"One barbecue set, minus the barbecue."

Fuutaro Uesugi ordered his usual, the cheapest "meal" in the whole cafeteria. It was a barbecue meal without the meat, making for a bargain with the additional sides of miso and pickled vegetables, a perfect reflection of his ingenuity and poverty. After receiving his meal, after stopping for water on the way, he noticed a redhead aiming for his favorite spot.

"Excuse me, I was here first. The table beside is empty, so you can sit over there," said the girl as she set her tray on the table.

"How about no, girlie? I sit here every day, so you move," snapped Fuutarou, setting his tray against hers. The two of them sat down, unwilling to give up the table. Looking at her tray of udon, tempura, yakiniku, karaage, daigakuimo, and pudding, she was certainly loaded, and the food she had was certainly going to load her. And looking at her, she was a beautiful young lady, with features that exude elegance and charm.

[Huh? Wait, it's her!] thought Fuutarou. As he recognized her face as the one he met before on a trip to Kyoto, he also remembered that he looked different from back then. [She doesn't seem to recognize me, so should I tell her?] pondered the boy. [Let's try this.]

"Excuse me, where are your manners?" asked the girl. Fuutarou was indeed being disrespectful, carefully looking at a test paper he had on his person.

"Oh sorry, pardon me. I was just reviewing this test."

The girl, being curious of his grades, asked, "Really? What was your score?". She didn't notice the little smirk the boy had as he gave her his test paper, folding it such that only his name was displayed.

That smirk quickly disappeared when she quickly unfolded the rest of the paper, to be greeted with a perfect score.

[No way, she didn't notice?], thought Fuutarou. Then, something clicked. [Wait a minute, she can afford that meal, so that means…]. Fuutarou was jealous, not because of her meal, but because she can afford it. [She kept her promise. And she's still in school! I was expecting at least a couple months after graduation before either of us got rich! No wonder she doesn't recognize me, compared to her I'm insignificant!]

"You showed me this on purpose!" said the girl, interrupting his thoughts.

"My bad, I didn't really want to show my _score_."

"Ugh, I hate to admit it, but I'm not that good at studying. Maybe you can help me."

[Oh, maybe she has a job that lets her afford these. Wait, she needs my help to study? This is my chance to repay her!] "Sure, I'd be glad to." Said Fuutarou with a smile that caused the girl's resentment to fade.

"Really? Oh I'm so happy, thank you! I'm Itsuki by the way. Nakano Itsuki," responded the girl with a radiance that made Fuutarou's heart skip a beat.

"Nakano Itsuki, huh? I'll remember that. I'm Uesugi Fuutarou." [So her name was Itsuki. She doesn't seem to recognize me, so that's that. But maybe I can repay her if I help her study] "Sorry about my rudeness, so for now let's eat."

"I've been meaning to ask, but is that all you're eating? Would you like to share some of mine?" Against her better judgement, Itsuki was offering food. Perhaps as a way to celebrate her new study-buddy. Or perhaps to shave off the embarrassment that that meal was just her first helping.

"Really? I don't want to impose." [This _goddess_. Oh thank the heavens for her!]

"No worries, I _accidentally_ ordered too much."

"I'll help myself then. Thank you very much!" As Fuutarou was savoring one of the tempura, his phone suddenly rang. "Sorry, I have to take this. Talk to me later Itsuki, we can study together. And thanks for the food!" After gulping his rice down in a move that made Itsuki herself impressed, he quickly ran to the bathrooms for a chance to have a talk.

"Onii-chan, dad says he found you a job! He said he's gonna give you the details when you get here, so come home early, okay?"

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After school, while preparing their things.

"Hey Uesugi-kun! The class sure is lively huh?" said Itsuki as she packs her things after her study session. Fuutarou's explanations were really sticking to her brain like fresh mochi.

"Yeah, but that's probably thanks to you Nakano-san."

"Itsuki."

"Huh?"

"You can call me Itsuki," replied the girl while blushing. "Not that I want to be impolite to you, it's just that you may get confused."

"About what?"

"Nevermind. Just call me Itsuki, okay?"

"Ah sure. Then in that case call me Fuutarou" [Maybe if she calls me Fuutarou again she might remember.]

"Ah don't worry about me, Uesugi-kun."

"Whatever floats your boat. Oh yeah, since you wanted to study together, you might want to get some reference books."

"Great idea! But I don't know my way around here…"

"Figures. I'll show you my favorite store."

As they made their way around town, and after Fuutarou made Itsuki buy her books for English, Math, History, Japanese, and Science, as well as a few cookbooks, made their way to the station.

"Sorry, I have to make a stop."

"Where to?"

"This is my house, I'll just drop my bag. Don't worry, I'll still help you with these."

Suddenly, a young girl rushed outside and hugged the young man. "Raiha…" Fuutarou's younger sister was as youthful and energetic a girl was allowed to be, with enough maturity to handle all the responsibilities inside the house.

"Welcome back Onii-chan! Oh, and good afternoon miss…"

"Itsuki, Itsuki Nakano. I'm Uesugi-kun's friend."

"Friend?! Onii-chan has a friend."

"Now now Raiha, that's enough…"

"Please come in! My friend gave me some manju, let's eat them!"

[Stop it Raiha, that's yours.] As they made their way inside the house, Fuutarou noticed _some boxes_ of manju spilling out out of a crate. "Wow, that's a lot."

As Itsuki gladly ate some, Fuutarou gave his share to her. "Here, I don't like these things." He was only saying that to satisfy his petty feeling that he owed her lunch.

"Well then thank you. But ah, it's getting late."

"Ah, I'll help you go home after you finish."

"Thanks. Just show me the station, I can take it from there."

"But these are heavy you know. The cookbooks alone are…"

"Don't worry about that, I have help."

"Just till the station then."

After Itsuki finished one last box of manju, they went together to the station.

"You sure you have help?" worried the boy.

"Don't worry. See?" she showed him her phone, the screen filled with replies.

"In that case, I'll be off then." Fuutarou took advantage while there was still some light.

"Okay then, see you tomorrow Uesugi-kun. I look forward to having you teach me!"

And with that, the boy and girl parted.

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After getting home, Fuutarou was greeted by his father, Isanari.

"Son, we need to talk."

"Yeah, tell me about the job."

"It's a tutoring job, so it's gotta be perfect for a bibliophile like you!"

"Dad, I'm not a bibliophile. And that's not what bibliophile means!"

"Ahaha! Whatever! So they say the pay is five times the standard."

"Five times!? Why?"

"Dunno. The guy is super rich, maybe he has no sense of money."

"Guy?"

"Not to worry. The father's the one who's rich. As far as I know there's no boy that you're gonna be tutoring. They're named Nakano."

"Nakano huh? That's the girl who transferred to my class."

"Nakano? That's the girl Onii-chan brought here this afternoon!"

"Really?" said Isanari with a stunned face. "You're already one step ahead! What is this, 4D chess? Anyway, there's the address. Go there tomorrow and introduce yourself."

[Isn't it obvious we already met?] "Okay dad, thanks."

"Are you guys done? Let's eat!" said Raiha as she opens the pot of curry.

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Meanwhile, inside the Nakano Household.

A girl with short hair and piercing declares "Hey, Dad says he's hiring a tutor for us."

"Seriously Ichika? Why? I thought we went to this school so we wouldn't need to study?" snarked a girl with long hair and butterfly ribbons.

"Nino, we would have to study either way… it sucks." says a girl with headphones around her neck.

"Don't be like that, Miku! We'll definitely have fun!" replies a girl with a single green ribbon on her head.

"Yotsuba! Don't shake the table!" cries Itsuki, holding onto her plate, and the serving dish, and the rice.

"My bad. What's his name?"

"Dunno, Dad says his father forgot to give his name."

"He?" remarked Nino as she snapped her tonged.

"Don't worry, it'll be alright. Looks like I'll be able to tease him a lot" replied Ichika with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Don't expose yourself in front of him, Ichika" said Miku with a concerned look on her face.

"I won't. Anyway, Itsuki's looking hungry, let's eat!" And with that, the five girls started to dig in.

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That night Fuutarou dreamt of his time in Kyoto, of Itsuki, the girl he had met before.

"You've changed, Itsuki."

"You've changed as well, Fuutarou-kun! You're so smart now! But you're still gloomy and friendless, huh?"

"Watch what you're saying. Anyway, you're still as cheerful from before huh? You still don't respect my personal space."

"Come on, that was just this once. Anyway, aren't you glad that I wanted to sit on that table? We wouldn't have met otherwise."

"We'd still be classmates though."

"Yeah, and you'd probably still remember me. But I wouldn't have interacted with you if we never met in the cafeteria."

"Yeah, you'd be too cool for me to approach you."

"Don't worry, at least you managed to let me study with you. Maybe prove how cool you are then."

"Yeah Itsuki. I also hope you'll remember me."

"No worries. Even if I don't I'll still get to see you."

"Yeah. See you later Itsuki."

"Fuutarou-kun, Uesugi, Fuutarou, Uesuugii-san!, Uesugi-kun, okite" Fuutarou hears Itsuki's voice as he wakes up.

"Okay Itsuki I'm awake!" shouts Fuutarou as he rises from the futon.

"Sorry Onii-chan, but I'm not Itsuki-san" replies Raiha in a teasing voice.

"Boy, you really like that girl huh?" says Isanari as he gets ready to leave the house.

"It's not like that. I just dreamed about her, is all."

"Wow, you never dream about anything else apart from that girl you met in Kyoto!" an excited Raiha shouts.

"Let's stop" Fuutarou begs.

"Just make sure you get your head out of the clouds. Don't want you making a wrong first impression," and with that, Isanari is the first one to leave.

"Let's just get ready for school. How about you, Raiha?"

"Yep, after we eat we can go."

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It was lunchtime when Fuutarou and Itsuki got to talk to each other again.

"Hey, Uesugi-kun, are you okay? You look like you're going to pass out."

[A job huh? I won't be able to spend as much time with her as I thought.] Fuutarou had been spacing out, and Itsuki's return to his life didn't help his poor brain to process all the current events. "Hm? Ah yeah, sorry about that."

"You're going to bump into something if you keep that up." She says as she puts couple karaage on his bowl. "Here, from me." She made sure to order extra, so she can give him some.

"Again? I'm getting the feeling our relationship is dictated by food."

Itsuki's mind buzzed when she thought of a relationship with food. "Don't worry. I just wanted to give this to you, as a friend."

"Thank you then," as he took his first bite, Itsuki looked at her phone.

"Crap! I forgot I was eating with them today! Sorry to bother you but I have to go!" Itsuki stood up.

"Oh, ah, be careful. And let's study after school, okay?"

"Sure, let's do that!" Itsuki took her tray of food and left. Fuutarou checked his phone, suddenly feeling lonely.

{Dad says they asked to meet at 5}

[Five, huh? That means I can still stay here till 4:30. I'll tell Itsuki later.]

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Itsuki finally arrived at the table with her sisters.

"Dad says to go home by 4:30" expains Ichika while drinking her coffee.

"Why?" retorts Nino, angry at the sudden curfew. She almost choked on her pearls while saying this.

"So that we can prepare for the tutor I guess." Miku says with a face blank with emotion, sipping a matcha soda.

"Hey, I wonder what he's like?" Yotsuba excitedly claims while drinking her orange juice.

"Really? I was planning to stay here a bit later." Itsuki replies.

"Ara ara, you have some business?"

"Not really. I found someone to help me study. He's really thoughtful too. He seems to have good grades, and he's very helpful. I'd prefer him over some tutor. I'm sure he'd relate to us better than some paid worker."

"Is someone in love?"

"No, it's not like that. I just thought that he has helped me quite a lot, and all I did was give him some food."

"You gave him food? Someone's definitely in love."

"It's not like that!"

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At the start of their study session, Itsuki declares to Fuutarou. "Listen, I have to go a bit earlier today. I can only stay until 4:30."

[Really? I don't have to make an excuse anymore?] "Oh, that's alright. I also have part-time work in that time." [Crap, I still said it.]

"Oh really? Guess we can only study together until 4:30 huh?" Itsuki started feeling dejected.

[Man, even when she's looking down she's cute.] "Don't worry about it. I'll still make sure you learn the lessons!"

"Really? Thank you. By the way, what's your job?"

[Crap, I can't tell her I'm tutoring. She's good practice as a tutee, so she might feel sad if she finds out.] "I don't know yet!" he lies, "but the pay's good, five times the standard." Fuutarou rejoices with a bright smile.

"You don't know what job you're going to do? That's kind of irresponsible isn't it? What if you have to take care of five dogs all at once? Or you have to cook five meals in five minutes? Or you have to pick from five boxes your prize and the rest cause you to lose everything?"

"That's a lot of fives..." [What's this girl's idea of a job?]

"My point is, what if you get sent to hell with your job?"

"Don't worry. I wouldn't have taken the opportunity if I didn't know I could handle it."

"That must be quite the job then. I hope it'll turn out alright." Itsuki breathes a sigh of relief, being reassured by Fuutarou's happiness.

Time passed in the blink of an eye, and the boy and girl parted ways again. Itsuki walked along with her sisters, and Fuutarou also walked... in the wrong direction. He had forgotten about his prior appointment, being lost in Itsuki's smiling face when she was learning, only remembering when it was a quarter to five.

[Crap, fifteen minutes, I hope I can make it.] He started running, pushing himself so that he will not lose his job on the first day.

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At the Nakano household.

"I'm going in my room."

"Me as well."

"I'll play my games."

"Aren't we meeting the tutor?" Yotsuba complains.

"I honestly wouldn't want to meet him. He's five minutes late. Let's just calmly reject his tutoring. They don't seem interested either, and I have my own study buddy." Itsuki _comforts_ her sister.

"Study buddy?"

"Yeah. He treats me as an equal, better than any tutor ever could with their authority" Itsuki says while doing air quotes.

*ding dong

"That must be him!" Yotsuba races to the door. Itsuki calmly goes to her room.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. Is this the house of Nakano?" Fuutarou, tired from running, held his head down.

"Yeah, that's us. Come on in!" Yotsuba replies.

"Thank you very much." AS he looks up, he saw Itsuki's face.

"Itsuki? I'm tutoring you?"

"Itsuki? I'm Yotsuba, nice to meet you Fuu- for this day!" She recognizes that face, the face she had consolidated with before.

[I must be having delusions from all that running.] "Ah, nice to meet you."

"Itsuki's my sister though."

"Ah, sorry, my bad. That explains the likeness."

"Anyway, please come in. I can see you're tired."

"Sorry for the intrusion. Oh, my name is Fuutarou Uesugi. I'm supposed to tutor this family. I assume that would be Itsuki and you, Yotsuba-san?"

"So you're the tutor? Nice to meet you! Sit down while I call them."

"Itsuki, the tutor is here!"

"I'll go outside later."

"Ehhh, but wouldn't that be rude? He knows your name and all."

"What is he, some kind of stalker?"

"Maybe, I don't think so. He's sitting on the couch."

Itsuki comes out of the room, looking at Fuutarou. "Uesugi-kun?"

"So you do know his name!"

"He's our tutor?"

"Seems like it." With those words,Itsuki's passion was relit. She knew that her sisters receiving the same treatment as her would only be beneficial for the two of them. And so she helped Yotsuba gather her sisters. Normally if it was just Yotsuba the sisters would ignore her energetic cries, but seeing as Itsuki was also adamantly suggesting they meet the tutor they couldn't help but comply.

"Didn't you say you didn't want the tutor?"

"And that you're in love to take anyone else?"

"It's him! And it's not like that?"

"Sounds like the words of someone in love."

All five Nakano sisters assembled in front of Fuutarou.

Yotsuba happily declares "It's not just me and Itsuki, it looks like you're tutoring the five of us!"

[You gotta be kidding me. Am I dreaming? Did I collapse on the road or something?] In front of him was a smirking Itsuki with short hair, a mad Itsuki with butterfly ribbons, a sulking Itsuki with headphones, an energetic Itsuki with a rabbit ear ribbon and a big smile on her face, and a happy Itsuki with her usual star clips. "Five Itsuki's?!"

**TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

**A/N.**

**That's the first chapter, what do you guys think? If you're wondering, juct check the username to find out where my alignment is. I just wanted to give out a story if Fuutarou managed to not call Itsuki fat on the first day. As you can see, their relationship definitely improved. Feedback is appreciated, let me know what do you guys want, and what you think is going to happen next. Till next time.**


	2. Our Second Meeting

**A/N: First things first, thanks for all the suggestions. i planned to wait for feedback before doing the next chapter, so I'm glad I received it as soon as possible. You may have noticed, but last chapter had only Fuutarou's hidden thoughts conveyed. I'm planning to make it so that the sisters also have their own thoughts displayed while the story is being told. Also last chapter had symbols in place of page breaks, I'll take those out. I can't make Itsuki's star appear, and besides, the Yotsuba's ribbon and Fuutarou's hair tufts are too damn similar.**

"Five Itsuki's?!" Fuutarou exclaimed with his mouth hanging open.

"How rude! You're going to call me an Itsuki? Do I look like I have these love handles?" Nino replied while grabbing Itsuki's _love handles_.

"Hey, cut it out, that tickles" Itsuki slapped Nino's hand away from her. "Anyway, we're sisters, Uesugi-kun."

"But there's five of you." Fuutarou, still shocked, counts the fingers on his right hand.

"Yep, we're quintuplets." Yotsuba holds his hand, as if to assist him in counting them.

"Gah, quintuplets?" Fuutarou jerks his hand away. "Sorry, it's just a lot to take in."

"That's alright. Let us introduce ourselves. I'm Ichika." The girl leans towards him "Are you in love with Itsuki-chan? You can count on Onee-san right here to support you."

"I'm Nino. You must be one persistent stalker to follow Itsuki here and try to become out tutor. I heard she just met you yesterday!" Nino looked at him, eyes void of any compassion.

"Ah yeah, about that. I'm not a stalker. I was really hired to be your tutor."

"And why should we hire you? Quite cheeky of you to assume that you can teach us, considering we're in the same grade." Miku replied back, taking a jam cookie Nino had just baked.

"What I said really is the truth, um..." Looking at her, he noticed that her eyes were staring him down, probably judging him for his sweaty appearance. He did run all the way to the apartment, and it was obvious that he was tired, with the sudden revelation that they were quintuplets serving to confuse him even more.

"Miku." In between chews the girl managed to mutter her name.

"Aww, don't be like that you guys. He ran all the way here after all." Yotsuba protested, offering him a glass of orange juice. It was her favorite, a carbonated drink that had a lot of fizz. The orange flavor is so potent you can smell it from across the room.

"Thank you..." Fuutarou gratefully took the glass away from her.

"Ah, I'm Yotsuba. The one who greeted you earlier. Remember the ribbon! Also, please introduce yourself to them." She was about to form a pout, but remembered that he hadn't introduced himself yet.

"Oh, pardon me. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Fuutarou Uesugi, and starting today I'll be your tutor." He looked at the glass, not used to drinking anything but water. To him this was a new sensation. "Blgh!" Not used to the taste of carbonated juice, he suddenly jerked back.

Nino smirked at him. [Oh, you're making it too easy.] Wicked thoughts raced through her mind.

"Are you alright?" Yotsuba took the glass from his hand and patted his back. Fuutarou was surprised, and recomposed himself.

"Sorry about that. It was just so nice." It obviously wasn't nice. "Anyway, I want to..."

*bzzzt

"Uesugi-kun, it's our dad. I think he wants to talk to you." Itsuki handed him her phone, being careful not to touch his hand. She was nervous, as no she has never done handholding with a boy before.

Noticing the gesture, and Itsuki's slight blush, Nino clicked her tongue. [Yup, Itsuki definitely likes this guy.] "Go talk to him first before you talk to us" she boldly claimed. After that she proceeded to take more cookies, knowing full well that the two batches she baked would be gone once Itsuki started.

"In that case, okay then." Fuutarou put the phone on his ear, and was greeted with a very calm, eerie voice.

{Good afternoon Uesugi-kun. It seems you have met with my daughters.} The voice was clear in its intent, that this arrangement was done out of necessity and concern, not out of goodwill to him.

"Nakano-san, good afternoon. Yes, they're all here with me." As if in an act of rebellion, three sisters were starting to make their way into their rooms. "Are they really quintuplets?"

{Yes, they are true monozygotic quintuplets. I want you to guide them all to graduation. Of course, I will pay enough for all five.}

"But teaching quintuplets is a bit..." Fuutarou didn't notice he was voicing out his complaints.

{Of course, if you deem it past your capabilities, please forget this arrangement ever happened.}

"Of a new experience. Though it's nothing I can't handle." [Crap, I have to do this tutor gig. I can't repay her otherwise.]

[In that case, I wish you luck. I'll talk to you at a later date so you can start.]

"Okay..." the phone beeped, displaying the call time, 50 seconds. "then." [Wow, that guy is all business.] "Alright everyone, as I was saying..."

"Uhm, Uesugi-san? They're not here anymore." Seeing that indeed, only the green ribbon and star clips remained, Uesugi sighed.

"Don't worry, Uesugi-san! We'll help you find them!" Yotsuba reassured him.

"They're just in their rooms, Yotsuba. Anyway, Uesugi-kun, let's start with Miku." Itsuki answered the both of them.

Making their way up the stairs and entering the third Nakano sister's room, they were met with a girl staring into a monitor.

"I don't want to be taught by a guy on the same grade level as me."

"That's Takeda Shingen isn't it?" Surprised by Fuutarou's claim, Miku paused the video. "Huh, I didn't think you'd recognize him. This is pretty obscure, no?"

[That was on the test last week! Only the bonus though.] "Ah, yeah. I study up on history everyday. If you'd like I can teach you too."

Miku, surprised a guy had similar interests as her, blushed. "Ho? Is that so? Fine, I'll come later. Go ahead and bother the two."

"Thanks Miku!" Yotsuba smiled, as if she had just managed to catch a big fish. Fuutarou did everything though.

Outside Nino's room, despite incessant knocking, the lock wasn't budging. "Nino, come on out! He doesn't bite!" Yotsuba shouted, clearly not embarassed by her choice of words.

"How about we go to Ichika's room first then?" Itsuki suggested while tugging on Fuutarou's shirt.

"Sure, as long as everyone's together." Fuutarou said while turning to her.

Inside Ichika's room, Fuutarou was the only one who entered. "Come on, let's start studying."

"Ah no, don't!" Fuutarou was startled. "Ehehe, I'm not wearing anything right now so."

"Why!?" exclaimed a blushing Fuutarou while seeing Ichika naked with only a blanket draping over her.

"Come on, are you sure you don't want to study anything else. You're inside my room, you know?" Ichika seductively teased.

"Sorry, but I'm only here to teach you." Itsuki and Yotsuba entered, seeing the situation the two were in.

"Ichika, cover yourself!" Itsuki shouted.

"Alright alright, help me find clothes."

"Ichika, you have clothes like these?" Yotsuba gasped while holding some mature lingerie.

"We have the same face, you probably pull it off. Besides, isn't it about time you outgrew your kiddy panties?" A lauching Ichika claimed.

"Shi, shiiii! He can hear you!" Fuutarou just looked troubled.

"How about you, Itsuki. They'll probably still fit. _Probably_." A smile formed from Ichika's lips, while Yotsuba just kept blushing. Itsuki blushed as well, knowing the implications of the statement.

"Forget about that, just get dressed."

As the three were making their way out of the room, Nino shouted "Hey, go down you guys! Let's eat something!" Nino was holding a fresh batch of cookies, ready to set them on a plate place on the table, along with a few chips, their prepared drinks of choice, and a meatbun just in case.

Itsuki was the first to the table, ready to eat, followed by the rest of her sisters, and Fuutarou himself.

"That was fast, she's faster than you Yotsuba." Miku said as Itsuki zoomed past her.

"Ehehe, she's probably hungry." Yotsuba said, eyes closed and one arm behind her head.

"When isn't she?" Ichika added, laughing with her.

Seeing as the sisters were all collected, Fuutarou explained. "Ehem, so seeing as I'm going to be your tutor, I want to evaluate you girls first." Fuutarou went to get his bag, which was filled with textbooks, notebooks, and his student handbook.

"Why?". Nino quickly asked because he interrupted their snacks. "Can't you see we're eating? It's rude to do anything else while people are eating on the table you know?"

"This if so that I know who I have to teach." Fuutarou smiled. Nino gulped. Itsuki started on the meatbun.

"It's his job, Nino. Besides, you were studying here last night while i was eating too, you know?" Itsuki defused the potential fight.

"You're always eating here" was the only comeback Nino could think of.

"Whoever passes doesn't need to be taught by me. If you fail, you're stuck with me." Fuutarou proceeded to check his papers.

"What's the passing grade?" Miku asked.

"Six, no make that fifty." Fuutarou answered.

"Hmph, guess we'll just have to show you we don't need you." Nino triumphantly claimed, as if sure that he was going to be ousted from the house.

"Alright then. Let's start." The boy distributed test papers to the girls.

After the test, Fuutarou claimed "You managed to score past 100, together, that is." [No way, are they all stupid? Don't tell me Itsuki was this dumb before I started teaching her.]

"So, seeing as Itsuki was the only one who passed, you four are going to be stuck with me." A dejected look on his face, he held out the papers to be taken by their owners.

"No way, you scored this high?" Ichika was shocked to see Itsuki's paper.

"Ehehe, Uesugi-kun taught me." Itsuki blushes at her achievement.

[Those are only this week's lessons, but I'll let her enjoy this.] "Alright, I can see what we need to study first. How about we start now so we'll I can get out early."

"Fine. Come here, eat." Nino hands him the plate of cookies. "I'll start studying after you eat these. Come on, they're tasty!" Nino ate a bunny cookie and smiled.

[This girl. She has Itsuki's face, but it's somehow malicious.] Fuutarou took a bunny cookie as well. "Alright, you can just take these quizzes and I'll be off."

"Here, some water." Ichika was drinking some cocoa, Miku some tea, Yotsuba her carbonated drink, and Itsuki some curry.

"Hm, what happened to this? Something's bitter." Itsuki asked.

"So once you finish..."

"Sir, sir, sir. We're here. That'll be 4800 yen."

"Huh? What?" [I'm in a cab. Why?] "4800?" exclaimed a groggy Fuutarou.

"By card." A female handed over a black credit card to the driver.

After exiting the car, Fuutarou saw ribbon girl standing alongside him.

"Uhm, how did we get to my house?"

"Silly, you just got out of the cab."

"Not that! Why was I asleep?"

"I don't know. Looking at the quiz made me sleepy as well, so maybe you're tired that you have to look at that quiz five times!"

Suddenly, a girl with a very long ponytail on top of her head exited the building. "Onii-chan! Welcome back! Oh, and hello... Itsuki-san?"

"Kyaahhh, who is she? She's so cute!" Yotsuba raced to Raiha and hugged her.

"That's my sister, Raiha Uesugi. Please get off her."

"No way, is she the one you're tutoring?" Raiha asked at the quint smothering her.

"Ahaha, that's right. I'm Yotsuba Nakano. How come you know my sister Itsuki?" Yotsuba questioned.

"Long story." Fuutarou immediately answered.

"Onii-chan brought her home yesterday!"

Yotsuba stared, first behind Raiha, then at Raiha's face, and finally at Fuutarou. "Ehhhhhhhh!?" Yotsuba's brain was frying.

"It's not like that! Anyway, it's getting late. Let's resume tomorrow."

"What? Isn't she staying for dinner? Won't you have dinnder with us Yotsuba-san?" Raiha's puppy face was too good to refuse, even Fuutarou took the hint.

"Um, yeah, Yotsuba, would you want to eat dinner with us? It's not good to eat late" Fuutarou was blushing by now.

"Sure! Thank you for the offer!" Yotsuba beamed.

As they sat down on the table, Fuutarou remembered. "Ah, sorry, our food probably isn't suited to your palate."

"No way! I love eating like this! And besides, curry is Itsuki's favorite, how can I refuse? She was drinking it earlier you know?" Yotsuba readdured him.

"Ah, she mentioned it tasting bitter. Anyway, I hope you enjoy yourself".

As they were enjoying their food, Yotsuba was inspecting his family. [So she's his kid sister? She's so cute! I'd want to protect her too! Ah, looks like their situation hasn't improved huh. What am I thinking? I'm the one who hasn't improved. I'll make sure that he succeeds in this job so that he can help out his family. Yeah, I'll make you happy Fuutarou-kun!]

"Is something on my face?" Fuutarou looked at Yotsuba who was staring at him and smiling.

"Nothing Uesugi-san, it's just so admirable of you to teach us."

"Yeah? Well I hope it gets better next time."

"Speaking of which Fuutarou, why'd you change so soon? I was faithful to your mom you know." Isanari butted in.

"Dad! It's not like that! Please just ignore him Yotsuba."

"Oh, ah. Sure." Yotsuba looked at her plate, eager to hide her blushing face, but not her blushing ears.

After the meal, they went out of the house. "I'll walk you to the station." Fuutarou proposed.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I can get there."

"No, this is for my peace of mind."

As they were walking, Yotsuba was looking at a swing set.

"So, you know this area?" Fuutarou broke her trance.

"Not really."

"Then why'd you say you can get to the station?"

"Oh, ah, haha. You're right. I was just trying to act cool."

"Dummy, getting lost isn't cool."

"Haha, sorry about that."

"So how'd you know where I live? Did Itsuki tell you?"

"Nah, she couldn't. She fell asleep too. We looked at your student handbook. Almost forgot, here." She gave him his handbook.

"Did you, look at anything else?" [Crap the photo!]

[I can't lie right now, he's gonna see right through me!] "Yeah, there's a cute boy at the back. Who is he?"

[Crap they saw.] "A relative. Here's the station, be careful on your way home."

"Oh. Thank you Uesugi-san, you be careful too!"

The boy and girl parted ways, both of them lying a little to each other, but leaving each other with big smiles on their faces.

As Fuutarou was walking home, he contemplated. [So they saw, huh? Man, they'd surely recognize me!]. As he was looking at his notecards, he saw a quote "Every obstacle is just another opportunity." [Wait, I can use this! If I ask them and they remember, I'll surely find the one I met in Kyoto! Yotsuba doesn't seem to know, so that's her off the list. I'll ask the others tomorrow.] And with that, Fuutarou was smiliong the whole trip back home.

**A/N. I wasn't planning on changing some minor events like the first meeting with the sisters, but from feedback I guess that'd make for a pretty bland story. Anyway this chapter was done to finish the introductions. At this point I'm still not entirely sure on which quint Fuutarou's supposed to end up with, (yes, he ends up with one of them, no random Takebayashi or Takeda ending) but from feedback I'll try to make a good story. Also, leave feedback on who you want Fuutarou to think Rena is. Handholding next chapter, you have been warned.**

**Edit: Wow, now that I see it in the reader I realized the paragraphs are shorter now, didn't mean for that to happen, sorry about that. I wanted the opposite, so I'll fix that next time.**


	3. Finding Out

**A/N. I kinda rushed last chapter, and I'm not satisified. I was so excited to put in all ideas I had flowing in my head. You know when you're writing and the ideas just come to you? Yeah, all I put there were the ideas. Last chapter was more akin to a script than written literature, if anything. I think I managed to give out everything I wanted, but I don't like the medium. Ok I'm gonna stop. Warning, there's handholding.**

The next morning Fuutarou came early. It was a Saturday after all, and he wanted to figure out which of the quintuplets was the girl he met back then in Kyoto. He buzzed their apartment, the number being given in his note from Maruo. After being let in by Miku, he noticed the review materials last time were gone, save for the quizzes neatly piled up. He looked at the papers, noticing that all of them were answered, with different names.

"Sorry about last time. I was told I suddenly fell asleep." He apologized, having a sneaking suspicion that the water he drank had something special in the mix. Everyone was eating a little of everything on the table last night, but drinks couldn't have been shared. Besides, butterflies personally gave the water to him, that mixed with the malicious intent he felt from her, and he was sure that she was the one who did it.

"Yeah, you did. Why was that?" Miku replied nonchalantly, taking a matcha soda from the fridge and pouring him some water.

"I don't know. Maybe all that running." He lied.

"You should really get that checked out. Here." She offered him some water. He was sweaty from the morning jog he did to get here. Fuutarou was understandably wary, so he made a gesture refusing it. "I didn't put anything in it."

[So you knew what happened!] "Oh, sorry, I was being rude." Fuutarou was still nervous while taking it.

"Just be careful next time, you never know whose snot is in there." Miku laughed.

"Yeah, I won't be like Mitsunari Ishida." Fuutarou remembered the story. During one of their study sessions, he came across an obscure reference to the story, so he asked Itsuki to look it up. [Man, that internet is something else. It's portable everything!]

"You. Understood?" Miku had a very shocked expression on her face. It was the first time anyone understood any of her references. "Hey, so do you like history?"

"I like a little bit of everything, and that's what I'm here for. I'm Fuutarou Uesugi, the man who's going to teach you, after all." He got so caught up in the moment he ended up reintroducing himself.

"And I'm Miku Nakano, your student. So make sure to teach me a lot, sen~sei!" Miku got caught up in the moment too. She blushed afterwards.

The reason they could be so engaged in their conversation was because the apartment was strangely empty. Apart from Miku, no one was present. "By the way, where are the others?" Fuutarou noticed the empty apartment, and asked Miku.

"The other three went out to get coffee and tapioca. Itsuki's still sleeping though. I'll go wake her up. Just sit here on the table." Miku went up the stairs and knocked on Itsuki's door. "Itsuki, wake up! Let's have breakfast."

A big yawn escaped Itsuki's mouth. "Breakfast? Alright." Itsuki went down and took a bowl, cereal, and a gallon of milk. As she was about to start eating, she noticed Fuutarou grading the papers. "Uesugi-kun?" Flustered, she stopped pouring cereal into her bowl.

"Good morning Itsuki." He faked a smile, eyes closed and all. Of course he would! He was about to finish Itsuki's paper, and it wasn't good. He was mentally tallying their scores together because he could. Their total results added up to 110, with Itsuki scoring the highest, though not by a lot. The quiz covered the entirety of the semester, but he was expecting at least better grades. "Looks like you guys still have a lot to learn." He looked up, seeing Itsuki's figure. Something was off. She was eating from a big bowl, bigger than the curry pot back home, but that wasn't it. "Itsuki, you sleep like that yesterday?" She was wearing her clothes from yesterday.

"Oh yeah. I was so tired so I just slept in these." What Itsuki wasn't wearing wasn't very comfortable sleepwear. It was a sort of business casual, complete with a tie. She wore these whenever she was going to seriously study.

"Yeah, we all were. When you woke up, I was going to sleep you know? Yotsuba just texted us that she got him home, but you had to make us finish these quizzes. Even Yotsuba was tired when she got back,but you still made her answer before going to bed." Miku was making her version of omurice for two.

"Strange. I suddenly felt tired, even though I never do while answering a quiz. Everything just started going fuzzy." Itsuki mutters. "But if you hadn't answered, Uesugi-kun would have been here for naught."

"Yeah, yeah. Fuutarou, you want breakfast? Don't refuse if you're hungry." Miku was plating and garnishing her food.

"Thank you then, Miku." Miku blushed being called by her name by a boy. No one called her Miku properly before, either confusing her with her sisters or being ignored. She was shaking when she gave the plate to Fuutarou.

"Thank you for the food." Fuutarou took a huge spoonful into his mouth "It's good!" At this point Miku was as red as the ketchup. [Stop it. Stop taking so many of my firsts!] Her first time being called Miku with such confidence. Her first time her cooking was praised. Her first... handholding?! [Awawa! Awawawawawa?!] "What are you doing?"

"Sorry. I just wanted to clean up your hand. You can't eat like that." He was cleaning her hand with a handkerchief. "Don't worry, it's clean." He was trying to express his kindness in his own way.

[Why? No way. This doesn't count. He used protection so this doesn't count right? Ahhh! I'm still safe, right?] "You're going to have to take responsibility."

"Yeah, I'll make sure to teach you all you want to know!" Fuutarou triumphantly claimed.

On the other end of the table, Itsuki stopped eating. One reason was that she ran out of milk. The other was that Fuutarou was being awfully physical with Miku. "Ahem. So, Uesugi-kun, how did we do?"

Suddenly the door busted open. "We're back!" Yotsuba shouted, holding a few grocery bags. Ichika and Nino came after her, bringing home eight tapioca milk teas and eight coffees. Nino saw the gallon of milk in front of Itsuki. "Good thing Yotsuba bought milk." She also saw Fuutarou at their table. "Why is he here?"

"Uesugi-kun came by to check our grades." Itsuki looked at the groceries, wondering what was inside.

"What are you doing there? We eat food there you know?" Nino was positively angry seeing his face so early in the morning.

"Good morning to you too." Fuutarou was pissed, recognizing malicious Itsuki. He cleaned up after himself, not wanting to earn more of her anger.

"Everyone calm down. Look, we got this bread!" Ichika pulled out a big French baguette, lovingly stroking and holding it. She winked at Fuutarou while doing this, like a seductress telling him she was enjoying letting him see her.

"I'll excuse myself then." Fuutarou noticed. After thirty minutes, he came back. Everyone was finished eating, and the atmosphere was calm once more. "Alright, I came back to give everyone's scores."

"Ahaha, figures."

"Can't do anything about it."

"Meh."

"Wow! I got this much?"

"No way..."

Fuutarou couldn't tell who was saying what, but the general conclusion is that they were used to these scores.

"You're still going to force yourself on us eh?" Nino suddenly surprised him. "You won't be teaching Itsuki though."

"And why is that?" Fuutarou asked.

"You said so yourself. She passed your little test, so she's exempt from your harassment."

"I'm not going to harass you guys!" Fuutarou cut her off.

"Aw, don't you like to have fun?" Ichika said in a playful tone. "You'll have four sisters to yourself. Don't tell me you want the youngest of us too?"

"Like I said, I'm not going to harass you guys! I'll just be teaching you what you need to know."

"Sure sure, but Itsuki's safe from you." Nino insisted.

"I don't mind." The words escaped from Itsuki's mouth. Ichika was smiling, looking proud of her. Nino was mad. Miku felt her chest tighten. Yotsuba was surprised. "Ehhhhh?!"

"No way, you're accepting this man? How could you?" Nino was absolutely frustrated. [What does she see in him?]

"Nino, it's her choice. My my, Itsuki-chan, you've grown up." Ichika smiled at Itsuki.

"..." Miku was silent.

[We are on the same page right?] "Itsuki, we're too young!" Yotsuba panicked, unable to form more words.

"I don't want to be left behind you know? I want him to teach me too! I saw my grade, and I don't like it! I'm not satisfied yet with my performance!"

[Maybe I should try wearing more mature panties...] "Okay Itsuki. We'll do this together!" Yotsuba commented.

"Why? Why? We're sisters aren't we? How could you so easily do this? I thought we'll always be together!" Nino pounded the table, angry that her sisters are just willing to let Uesugi inside even though she doesn't want him. "Can't you see what he's doing?"

"Nino, it's a mutually beneficial agreement. He'll help us..."

"You're defending him again! What do you see in him?" Nino cut her off, then stormed out of the house. Fuutarou soon followed.

"You're locked out you know?" He told the second sister.

"What does it matter? Go ahead and do what you want with them. Let me stay out of it."

"No, that's not how it works. I was told I was going to be working with quintuplets, not four sisters and a baby."

"Why, you!"

"I can see it, you know? How much you love your sisters. The bond you all share."

"Shut up."

"You love them. That's why you hate outsiders like me. I'm not here to break up that bond. I just want to repay you guys." Fuutarou sat down next to her.

"For what exactly? You've been here two days, there's no way you've been paid." Nino looked at him, eyes tearing up.

"Not that. I want to ask you something. Yotsuba told me you saw my student handbook. Did you see the back?"

"Yeah. Yotsuba told me he was your relative. How you're related to him I wouldn't understand." [That boy's totally my type if he wasn't so young.] The tears stopped flowing, and Nino became calmer.

"You don't know who that is?" Fuutarou probed her.

"What, am I supposed to? Is he famous or something?"

"Not really."

"Then stop talking about him. Stop talking to me."

"You really love your sisters, don't you?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I hate you!"

"See? You're so secretive about it, can't you just tell them how much you love them?"

"Shut up! Don't talk to me as if you know anything!"

"I've got a sister too. I love her, and I'd hate it if she were taken from me."

"..."

"But I'd hate it more if she never grew up. That's too selfish of me."

"..."

"It's the same for you" Fuutarou looked at her. She had the same face as the girl from Kyoto, now that she was calmer. "That love can never be broken so easily. Especially not by someone like me."

"Keep this a secret from them." Nino begged.

"That's between you and them, right? I won't talk about it, but you really should."

"You're so unfair." Nino pouted. Now that she was calm, she became curious as well. "Hey, who was that boy?"

"Keep this a secret from your sisters, okay? That way we'll be even." Nino nodded. "That boy is me." Nino's expression was blank. [Huh? Is he screwing with me? he's gotta be lying.]

"Nino!" Itsuki came running out.

"Itsuki..." Nino caught Itsuki in her arms.

"I'm so sorry. I don't want you to leave! Please come back!" Itsuki was about to cry.

"Dummy, I won't leave you guys."

"But I will." Fuutarou told the sisters. "I'm tired, and got what I wanted. Tell Miku the food was delicious." He started walking away.

"Oh, sure, Uesugi-kun! Take care!"

"Oh, and Nino, let's keep that between us, alright?" Fuutarou slyly winked, as if to tell her he's ready to blackmail her anytime.

Nino nodded once. Then looked at his figure. She was imagining him as a blonde. [No way. That can't be him.] "Itsuki, let's head back inside. I'll cook a big lunch as an apology."

"Thank you Nino!" Nino wasn't sure if the girl was thanking her for comng back or for the food.

Meanwhile, as he was walking home, Fuutarou was weighing the new information he got. [Looks like Nino doesn't know too, huh?].

**Sorry about last chapter, I hope this chapter redeems it somewhat. And yes, Yotsuba eventually figured out the innuendos were for studying. I planned to include Ichika's segment too, but that may take too long. Her arc is more complex than the previous two, so I'm not sure I can incorporate that within this chapter. Please leave your feedback and your thoughts. Thank you for reading.**

**Also, my favorite scene this chapter is Fuutarou's handholding with Miku. I'm not a good artist, but I would like to see art depicting that scene, him holding her hand like a knight does to a princess, Miku's face being one of bliss and embarassment. Don't forget the protection too.**


	4. A Night Out

**So I heard from you guys that last chapter may have made Fuutarou do some OOC moves. I don't want that to happen, as much as possible. I still want his character development to be present, no matter how much it changes due to him recognizing Kyoto Girl. After this chapter I might make it something like my own story, as writing the chapters before made it feel like I was just adapting Negi's work into specific situations. Anyway hope you guys enjoy.**

The brisk afternoon breeze was blowing when Raiha was collecting the laundry. Fuutarou returned home around lunchtime, so Raiha had to make a larger portion than she expected. Their father Isanari was preparing to go out for the evening, and gave his children tickets for some of the booths that his friends were going to be managing in a festival held today.

"Onii-chan, are you going to the fireworks festival later?" Raiha asked her brother while folding laundry. She was inside the living room, her brother inside his room. Fuutarou liked to leave his door open, as it makes the space look bigger than it actually is.

"I don't think so. I still want to categorize the topics I want them to learn." Fuutarou was diligently looking at the quizzes and some of his textbooks for reference. "I still want to give them notecards." Raiha glanced at her brother's work. She noticed that a whole thick binder was labelled with the necessary subjects he wanted to teach. The binder looked filled, so she took it. Fuutarou didn't bother to prevent his sister from looking, since he was done with it anyway. "If you understand that you'll be the one teaching them. You're already familiar with Yotsuba and Itsuki, aren't you?"

Raiha looked at the contents and subsequently pouted "Ahhh, I don't understand this! You guys study this?"

"Don't worry. You still have a few more years before you have to study that." Fuutarou stopped writing to look at his sister.

Raiha skimmed through the volume, before setting it down on the table. "Wow, all that for one semester?" She remembered that Fuutarou was halfway through a second binder. "And there's still more? Onii-chan, you're such a bibliophile."

"Raiha, stop using that word." Fuutarou looked at her with serious eyes.

"That's what Dad says. Don't you love books?" Raiha playfully asked her brother, oblivious to what she was saying.

[Dad, what have you been teaching her?] "Look, just because you combine two words together doesn't mean you know their meaning. Some words change meaning, or they alter their definition. Anyway just stop using that word."

"So how many more binders until you're done Onii-chan?" Raiha dodged the lecture, and turned her gaze to the binder.

"I'd say two more after this." Fuutarou was recalling in his head the rest of the lessons.

"Ehhhh? Four of those things per semester? That's surely a lot isn't it?" True, one binder looked like it had material to cover half the school year.

"That's not it. I'm already done with the first semester, the one you just looked at. This is for after mid-terms." Fuutarou flipped a new textbook open.

"What? Then why are you working on that now?" Raiha, confused, put back the volume and checked under the one Fuutarou was working on. It read "2nd Year 2nd Semester".

"There's no better time than the present." Fuutarou told her, dead-set on finishing.

"No. You can do that tomorrow, or the day after, or the week after!" Raiha closed the binder on Fuutarou's hand.

"But..."

"No buts. Come on Onii-chan, we can go to the festival. Dad's tickets will go to waste."

"Come on Raiha, that's a waste of time. Besides, if we go there we can't eat dinner you know?" Fuutarou reopened the binder.

"There's no food on the house."

"Eh?"

"Dad had no money, so he told us to go to the festival. He gave us coupons for free food, we just have to tell the store-owners he sent us." Raiha was flipping through the stack, trying to find the ones she wanted the most. There were at least 20 coupons, with the first 10 being for food.

[Man, Dad sure has a lot of connections. Gotta admit, they're useful.] "Alright, fine."

* * *

After checking everything in the house and locking up, the siblings went to go to the festival. Fuutarou was wearing his usual tacky clothes of a polo, a pair of baggy pants, and nearly worn out shoes, while Raiha was wearing her comfortable jumper dress and Crocs slippers. They wandered around the festival, checking the stalls tehy planned to visit later.

"Hey, Onii-chan" Raiha tugged at Fuutarou's shirt "Isn't that Itsuki-san and Yotsuba-san?" True enough, the sisters were standing in front of a Yakisoba stand. " The two girls wore yukatas, slightly different from each other, yet managing to bring out each sister's beautiful features regardless.

Fuutarou gulped. He was seeing grown up versions of the girl he met in Kyoto, and they were both beautiful in their own way. Yotsuba noticed his figure. His plain attire somewhat made him stand out.

"Waw, Uesugi-san! And Raiha-chan! Itsuki, look!" Yotsuba pointed at the Uesugi's.

"Five orders please." The customer in front of Itsuki had just collected his order, and it was Itsuki's turn. She was trying to hold her drool while standing in line.

"Order one for me too!" Yotsuba decided to go after the siblings.

"Huh? Yotsuba? Oh sure, another one please." Itsuki turned to find Fuutarou being dragged by Yotsuba, with Raiha tagging along. "Oh, Uesugi-kun and Raiha-chan. Good evening, it's nice to see you here."

"Good evening, Yotsuba-san, Itsuki-san! Those yukatas you have are so beautiful!" Raiha praised the twins. She got a hug from Yotsuba in return.

"Yeah, they fit you nicely." Fuutarou was staring at Itsuki, so she tried to look at her order.

"Ara ara, if it isn't Fuutarou-kun." Ichika grabbed onto his shoulder, so Fuutarou turned around, only to get his cheek poked by her finger. "And this must be Raiha-chan." Ichika pulled out her finger and went down to her knees to smile at Raiha. "Good evening Raiha-chan. I'm Ichika.".

"Good evening Ichika-san. Wow, you look just like your sisters!" Raiha pulled her face from Yotsuba to look at another face just like Yotsuba.

"Haha, well, we are quintuplets after all." Ichika stood up and looked at Itsuki, who happily started eating.

"Speaking of which, where are the others?" Fuutarou asked.

"Right behind you, actually." Fuutarou looked behind him to see Nino and Miku. "Raiha-chan, the one with the ribbons is Nino, and the one with the headphones is Miku."

"Wow. It's like someone copied your faces five times. You're all the same, but also different at the same time." Yotsuba finally released Raiha.

"So, you're Fuutarou's little sister?" Miku asked Raiha.

"Yep! I'm Raiha Uesugi, nice to meet you Miku-san!" Raiha displayed a big smile.

"Are you here to enjoy the festival too?" Yotsuba asked.

"Yeah. Onii-chan and I planned to eat here too." Raiha's stomach grumbled. "Ahaha..."

"You hungry, Raiha-chan? If you want we can go get something to eat." Yotsuba asked the young Uesugi.

"You go on ahead with Yotsuba, Raiha. I'll catch up with you." Fuutarou planned to ask one more Nakano tonight.

"Oh sure. We'll see you later Onii-chan!" Raiha was dragged off her feet into the festival.

"Yotsuba, what about your yakisoba?" Itsuki was too late, as Yotsuba and Raiha had already disappeared. "Hahh, you want some Uesugi-kun?"

"Uhm..." Fuutarou's stomach grumbled as well.

"Don't be shy now. It'd be rude to refuse Itsuki's food." Miku urged him. Indeed, Itsuki offering food was equivalent to her proposing.

"Thank you, Itsuki." Fuutarou took the box off of Itsuki's hands. Itsuki blushed when his hand met hers.

As Fuutarou finished, he noticed the sisters disappeared. Only Nino was left.

"Where did they go?" He asked as he took the last bite.

"Itsuki hadn't tried all of the stalls yet. I think Miku went to buy the mask that she wanted. Anyway, now that you're done, I want you to look at this." Nino dragged him off by his hand. They climbed a set of stairs to finally reach a rooftop.

"Why are we here, Nino?" Fuutarou asked her as he sat on the ledge.

Nino sat beside him. "We reserved this place to watch the fireworks."

"That's your thing, isn't it? Why am I here then?" Fuutarou was irritated since Nino dodged his question.

"Come on, can't you just appreciate this right now? Just think of this as our way of thanking you." Fuutarou was surprised by Nino's words. The rooftop seemed lonely to him at first, with only him and Nino present, but now that Nino was talking to him, he felt more at ease. "I want to ask for your help, Uesugi."

"Come again?" Fuutarou looked puzzled at Nino's request.

"The original plan was to watch the fireworks together here at this rooftop, all five of us. But you just had to show up." Nino started.

"So that's what it was." Fuutarou tried to talk.

"Let me finish. You know, ever since your first visit, something's changed. No, I think it's even before that."

"I hope it's for the better."

"Change is change. Anyway, we used to be so alike. Now we're so different. Uesugi, I need to ask you. You told me the bond between us is something that cannot so easily break, but I just feel that we're getting farther and farther." Nino looked down at her feet. The string of her geta had snapped.

"That's the thing. You can't stop your sisters from growing. You're growing up as well, Nino, and change is a part of that." Fuutarou bent down to her foot. "But just because you change doesn't mean your love has also changed. Love takes many different forms, but right now you may only be seeing the old one you had." He took off the broken sandal from Nino's foot. "We both know you and your sisters love each other very much, and no matter how much you think you're separated, you'll still be connected." Fuutarou pulled on the string and started retying it. "Nothing says 'I love you' more than being willing to change for the people you love." He pulled on the string again to make sure it was tight. "The best help I can give you right now is to make sure that you girls change for the better." Fuutarou put the fixed sandal on Nino's foot. "Yep, fits perfectly."

Nino looked down to see that her pair of geta were perfectly usable once again. The right one looked slightly different from the left one, but she didn't mind. "Thanks."

"No problem. I'm used to repairing stuff." Fuutarou stood up.

"As I said, thanks." Nino reaffirmed her gratitude.

The clock rung, signaling that the fireworks were due to start soon.

"Hey, you said you wanted to watch the fireworks together. Why aren't your sisters here yet?" Fuutarou changed the topic.

"I don't know. I texted the location." Nino looked at her phone. "What? There's no signal?"

"That's bad. I'll go look for your sisters." Fuutarou started walking down.

"Wait, I'll go with you." Nino stood up.

"That's not gonna happen. You can't run in those, taht's just a temporary repair." Fuutarou disappeared.

* * *

He was looking around, until he noticed a familiar pair of headphones. "Found you Miku." He tried to grab on, but he missed and touched her nape instead.

"Fuutarou..." Miku turned around to find him panting.

"Weren't you supposed to meet with your sisters?" Fuutarou managed to ask in between breaths.

"I'm sorry. I got lost." She hid her face in the mask she just bought.

"Anyway, Nino can't contact you guys. Any chance you can talk with your other sisters?"

"I'm sorry, I don't think my phone has reception right now."

[Man, what awful luck.] "That's fine. Any idea where your other sisters are?"

"Itsuki wanted to order every kind of Okonomiyaki. As for Ichika, I don't know." Miku recalled.

"I see, and what about Yotsuba and Raiha?"

"Right behind you, silly!" Yotsuba grabbed his shoulders and pulled herself toward him.

"Onii-chan! There you are! Yotsuba-san showed me around after we finished eating." Raiha displayed a smile mirroring Yotsuba's.

"That's good. Did you eat properly?"

"Yep. Yotsuba-san treated me to all knids of things. I didn't even get to use the coupons. What about you?"

"Ah, yeah. I already ate too." Fuutarou couldn't tell her he only ate Yakisoba. That said, Itsuki's idea of 'one order' was pretty big, so he was already full to eat anything else. "Have you seen Ichika and Itsuki?"

"I don't know about Ichika, but Itsuki was waiting for okonomiyaki when we last saw her. I asked Raiha-chan if we could wait but Itsuki said she might take a while, so we went on ahead. That's when we found you."

"I see. Nino's up ahead, in that tall building over there. You girls go to her now, I'll go find the others." Fuutarou zoomed towards the okonomiyaki stand. He found Itsuki sitting on a bench.

"Uesugi-kun, why are you here?" Itsuki had a pile of plates beside her.

"I might ask the same of you. Do you know what time it is?" Fuutarou made room on the bench to sit beside her.

"Don't worry, it's the last one. They have burger-flavored now, you know?" The store owner gestured to Itsuki that her order was ready. She sat down beside Fuutarou once she picked up her food. "It's so beautiful. I'll call her 'Gloria'."

"Anyway, have you seen Ichika?" Itsuki was about to start eating when Fuutarou asked her. She formed a pout and just stared into him. Fuutarou, oblivious, stared behind him in confusion. "Ah, there she is! I'll go get her Itsuki. Your sisters are waiting at the rooftop of that tall building." After giving Itsuki directions, Fuutarou dashed towards Ichika. Itsuki was left pouting as she started to eat.

* * *

"Found you." Fuutarou grabbed Ichika's hand.

"Ara ara, guess I'm caught. Good job Fuutarou-kun." Ichika looked behind her to see a man frowning. "In here!" She pulled Fuutarou into an alley, still not letting go.

"Ichika, what are you doing?" Ichika pulled him closer.

"Ara ara, Fuutarou-kun. And I thought you liked Itsuki-chan." Ichika whispered into his ear.

"What are you talking about?" Ichika turned her head to face their hands, still locked together. "Oh, sorry."

"Holding my hand is practically cheating, you know? The way you rushed me down and held me in your grip felt so... immoral." Ichika teased him.

Fuutarou, who was blushing by now, responded "Enough about that. Let's go meet your sisters." Fuutarou let go and tried to get out of the alley, only to notice Ichika not moving. "Ichika, come on, your sisters are waiting."

"I'm sorry Fuutarou-kun. I have an appointment..."

"Hah? With who?"

"Ichika-chan, there you were. Come on, let's go." A man appeared behind Fuutarou, taking Ichika with him.\

"Sorry Fuutarou-kun, but I have to go." Ichika went past him.

"What about the fireworks?" Fuutarou asked her.

"Tell them to enjoy it." Ichika faked a smile.

"I'm not telling them. You're gonna have to tell them yourself."

"I'm sorry, but I really have to go."

"Then I'm coming with you." Fuutarou grabbed onto her wrist, not willing to let go.

"Ichika-chan, who is he? You know you're supposed to be alone with the guys inside, right?"

[What the hell? What's Ichika doing?] "Ichika, what did he just say?"

"I'm sorry, Fuutarou-kun, but I have to do this." Ichika pulled her hand away, leaving Fuutarou to the mercy of the crowd.

[What's that girl thinking?] A hand grabbed Fuutarou's own. "Uesugi-kun, that was Ichika, wasn't it?"

"Itsuki. Yeah, it was." Fuutarou could tell it was Itsuki thanks to little bits of the Gloria burger stuck to her face.

"Where is she going?" Itsuki asked.

Fuutarou wiped the food off Itsuki's face. "I don't know. I'll go after her." He pulled himself from Itsuki, and blended into the crowd. "You can't run in those. Just go enjoy the fireworks, I'll get Ichika back." Itsuki just pouted, peeved that Fuutarou just pulled out on her.

After running out of the festival, Fuutarou noticed Ichika outside a nearby building. "There you are. What are you doing, Ichika?"

Ichika pulled out a tablet, showing him a script. "That's what I've been doing. I have an audition, and this might be my ticket for a major role." Fuutarou looked at the script. Ichika's lines were obvious, since she had them highlighted. "Speaking of which, I can still get some practice in. Be my teacher, would you?"

"I'm already your teacher, aren't I?"

"Not that. The one in the script I mean." Ichika giggled.

As she and Fuutarou acted out their lines, Fuutarou grabbed her cheeks. "That's no good."

"What? I thought I had it right there."

"You memorized your lines, but I don't like the way you're delivering them."

"Come again?"

"Your smile is fake. It's like you just memorized your lines, but you don't know the meaning behind them."

"That's so mean, you know?" Ichika pouted.

"There, now that's a genuine expression. Make a genuine smile like that if you want to get anything across." Fuutarou defused her.

Ichika looked at her face using the tablet as a mirror. "Why are you going so far? You're just a tutor right? You're not getting paid for this." Ichika asked.

"This isn't about the money. I want to help you girls. I made a promise to myself to help you and your sisters."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Let's talk about that later. Look, your manager's asking for you." Ichika turned around and went inside the building.

* * *

After Ichika's audition, she saw Fuutarou sitting on the steps.

"How was it?" Fuutarou sensed her and truned around.

"Yep. I got the part."

"You better have. You missed the fireworks for this."

"Hey, Fuutarou-kun, what were you talking about? You said you wanted to help us not just because of money."

[She's in a good mood. Maybe I can ask her now.] "About that."

"You're not going to tell me you suddenly fell for Onee-san or something right?" Ichika showed him her smile.

"No, it's not like that. Ichika, you saw my student handbook right?"

"Yeah, that's right. The boy at the back looked familiar." Ichika pulled out her tablet. "This is him right?"

[They even took pictures?] "Yeah, that's him. Do you recognize him?"

"Why are you asking?"

"I just wanted to know. I'll tell you the reason why I'm helping you guys after you answer."

"..."

"..." Fuutarou gulped. [Guess it's not her.]

"Yeah, I do. It's been a while, Fuutarou-kun."

**A/N. Sorry for the late update. I was too lazy to write the Fireworks Festival arc. I felt that the set-up for the whole thing was to conducive to convey Negi's plot, and I didn't feel like adapting the whole thing. Also, let me know which fic you guys like more, this or The Wrong Dose.**

**Yes, in this universe some food managed to escape Itsuki's mouth. She actually wanted to lick Fuutarou's finger, but held herself back since Fuutarou's hand had been stained, err, marked? by Ichika.**


	5. Truth and Lies

**A/N. You guys ask, I'm here to deliver. To be honest, I didn't get to do this chapter because there were so many cool ideas floating around. Plus I waited for any Ichika development (kinda, didn't get to use).**

* * *

"Yeah, I do. It's been a while, Fuutarou-kun." Ichika's words made Fuutarou freeze.

[It's her... she remembers.] "Ichika, you..." Fuutarou formed a smile.

[... Why am I doing this? Itsuki-chan likes this guy, right? Even Yotsuba-chan... I shouldn't trick him like this.] "You know, you looked a lot cooler back then. I was so cute too."

"Ichika! So you still remember. I've wanted to see you again for the longest time..." Fuutarou grabbed Ichika's hands, confessing his heart out.

[This is unfair to them... I'm sorry...] "Good acting, right?" Ichika suddenly cut him off.

"Huh?" Fuutarou, dumbstruck, loosened his grip. Ichika then took her hands away.

"What do you think? They told me impromptu acting was very useful." Ichika smiled.

"But you said... You even recognized the picture, right? You saw the whole thing, right?" Fuutarou tried to show her the entire picture.

"Yes, Fuutarou-kun. I couldn't believe it, so you met one of my sisters back then, huh? Who knew?" Ichika stared into the clouds.

"Ichika... what are you talking about?" Fuutarou pointed to the little girl in the picture. "So, this girl isn't you?"

"I don't think so? I mean, I would have remembered you for sure, right?" Ichika feigned ignorance.

"Then who is it?" Fuutarou was desperate. Ichika just kept dropping bomb after bomb on him.

"Who knows? We're quintuplets, so we all look alike. More so back then, we were practically the same person." Ichika explained the past to him. She showed him a picture of five identical girls, all the way down to their dresses.

"... I see..." Fuutarou accepted Ichika's statements. "I'm sorry for bothering you."

"Is that why you've been trying so hard to help us?" Ichika changed the conversation. "All because one of us is your childhood friend?"

Fuutarou was caught off guard. It's not like Ichika was wrong. "Of course! She helped me a long time ago. I want to pay her back."

"Is that so? So you haven't been teaching us because you wanted to, but because you owe something?" Ichika frowned at him.

Fuutarou saw her face, as if she was about to cry. "That's not it. I'm not..."

"Ahahaha! Fuutarou-kun, come on, we just went through this!" Ichika quickly changed her frown to a smile. "I'm just messing with you."

[This girl...] "I want to help you girls. I promised that I will be useful, if I can't help you when you need help, what good am I?"

Ichika's heart skipped a beat. [Right, he's the one they fell for... No wonder...] "I'm sorry Fuutarou-kun. Onee-san just wanted to play around. I'll be serious now."

Fuutarou took her hand and started walking. "Okay then." Fuutarou held her hand while talking to her.

"We all saw that picture of you... You were with one of us. As I've said, I'm not sure who it was, since we all looked the same back then." Ichika gripped her bag.

"..." [So someone else must remember...]

"When was this, by the way?" Ichika tapped his shoulder and asked.

"It was during elementary school, in Kyoto." Fuutarou remembered the day he was rescued. "It was only for a day..." Fuutarou remembered that there was only one day's worth of memories with her.

"A day, huh?"

"That's right, one day." [One day... I don't even know her name... Does she even remember mine?]

"I'm afraid I can't help you with that. I don't think you met the rest of us, or else they would have recognized."

"Is that so?"

"But the fact remains that you met one of us. If that's the only reason you're helping us, then don't. None of my sisters want to accept that kind of half-assed help."

"It's not half-assed! I want to help you girls. That's it, I'm not doing this because I expect any one of you to remember, I'm doing this because..." Fuutarou stopped to think.

"Because?" Ichika stared him in the face.

"Because... you girls need my help. I don't want to see you struggle. Call it selfish, but that's what I really want."

[Yeah. His help can't be half-assed if he's willing to go so far.] "You're cooler than you look, Fuutarou-kun."

Fuutarou blushed. "We're here."

"Ichika! There you were!" Yotsuba quickly stood up from playing with sparklers.

"Everyone..." Ichika was moved to tears by her sisters. It was already so late, yet they waited for her. Raiha already fell asleep on one of the nearby benches.

"It's not as grand as the big ones, but this is pretty special in its own way right?" Fuutarou urged the eldest sister to meet with the others.

The quintuplets enjoyed playing with the sparklers. In the end Ichika gave Fuutarou a treat for his troubles. She gave him a lap pillow to help him sleep more comfortably.

"Let's talk with them another time okay? I'm sure she has her reasons..."

Fuutarou's eyes suddenly opened. "Huh? Wha?"

"Enjoying yourself?" Ichika smiled from beyond her thighs.

"What happened? Crap it's so late, I have to get Raiha home." Fuutarou stood up and picked up Raiha.

"Be careful on your way home, Fuutarou-kun. Your face is really photogenic, ahaha." Ichika showed him a photo of his sleeping face on her phone.

"Ichika, you..."

"Don't worry, I'll help you find out from them."

"..." Fuutarou went home while carrying Raiha. [Right. Does she even remember, I wonder?]

* * *

The next day, they received notices of the upcoming mid-term examinations.

"Alright, I guess we're going to have to study a lot for these exams." Fuutarou reviewed the girls' recent test scores. He was not happy.

"That's going to be such a big hassle. Can't we just study the day before?" Ichika was sleepy after all the tests they just had to answer.

"No can do. If we don't study now, you girls won't understand anything." Fuutarou splashed some water on her face.

"We have a whole week. I'm sure that's enough time to study and enjoy ourselves." Nino looked at her phone.

Fuutarou showed her her scores in response. "You've been enjoying yourself too much. At this rate, you won't pass."

"Tch." Nino clicked her tongue.

"I'm sure we can study and still enjoy ourselves. Right, Uesugi-kun?" Itsuki proved that by studying her notes and enjoying a cookie.

*bzzz *bzzz Itsuki's phone suddenly rang.

"It's dad." She answered. "Good afternoon, dad. Yes, we're all together. Yes, Uesugi-kun is with us. Alright." Itsuki handed her phone to Fuutarou.

"Good afternoon, Father."

{Don't call me that. I have heard that the midterms are close, correct?} Nino wanted to hear the conversation, so she stealthily pressed the loudspeaker button.

{Forgive me for testing you, but I want to be sure. If any of my daughters fails the midterms, you will be dismissed from being their tutor.}

"Eh?!" The other line then hung up the conversation.

"So if any of us fails..." Nino realized.

"... you will no longer be our tutor?" Yotsuba's eyes went from a bright shine to a dull glimmer.

"There's no way that's going to happen, right?" Itsuki stopped eating, shocked at the sudden ultimatum.

"..." Fuutarou was sweating beads. Looking at the girls' scores again, there was no way he was going to pull this off unless he stayed up late teaching them.

"It's going to be alright. I trust you Uesugi-kun. You're the first person that made us study this hard, I'm sure you can make us all pass." Itsuki handed him a cookie to munch on.

"Itsuki..." Fuutarou gratefully took it.

"Besides, you've managed to double our scores ever since you started teaching us. I'm sure you can double them again." Yotsuba counted her to her score of 16 from her initial score of 8.

[That's not how studying works, Yotsuba...] Yeah! If you girls can maintain that attitude, I'm sure you will all pass!

That was the first night they spent studying. Fuutarou wasn't confident, but it was better than doing nothing.

* * *

**A/N. Sorry for the short chapter, I'm finding it hard having to rewrite the manga's plot. I don't want to say I'm too lazy to do it, it's just that I don't want to develop the story the way Negi did his. Sorry about that.**

**Anyway, w****hat do you guys think? And before you ask, the first scene had already been drafted since the last chapter was written, I was just too occupied to finish the other scenes (i.e. I ran out of Itsuki jokes).**


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